Monday, September 5, 2011

Monday’s Menu

A new regular posting theme for me. Well actually it will be
the previous weeks menu. In an attempt to truly web log what we serve on the
menu at the Hut, I’ve decided over the weekend to take a photo of our dinner
each night over the next year.

The iPhone has helped me document things pictorially
recently and looking at the photos, a lot of them are food related.

I think it will be interesting to see what we do eat, and
how repetitive we are.

If it gets too boring I may not post them- but it might spur
us onto culinary variety, you never know. Hopefully there aren’t too many
pictures of scrambled eggs on toast or vegemite on toast!

This week is not complete but there were some memorable
meals so here goes:

Monday and Tuesday

Chef: Rob

Beef shin, mushroom and stout pie with mash topping (a
tweaking of Matthew Evan’s recipe in his latest book, Winter on the Farm) and
peas.

Rating: Pretty good, beef perfectly tender, but needed
something to give the sauce some more depth of flavor.

Wednesday (sorry no photo)

Chef: Rob

Pasta carbonara.

Rating: The go to meal for comfort and ease- Nigella Lawson
recommends it as a meal to serve with your lover the first time he stays over,
preferably in bed.

Given we’re an old married couple now, we eat it quite
civilly at the table! We used some real eggs from our friend’s chooks so the
sauce was a nice saffron colour.

Thursday

Chef: Rob (I’m not doing well here am I?)

Pumpkin, mushroom, spinach and pistachio risotto

Rating: Colourful and an unusual but satisfying flavour
combination. Next day we ate the leftovers for lunch with out the nuts and
missed them for the crunch they added.

Friday

Chef: Our equivalent of a take away meal

Cheese selection from Bottega Rotolo: Delice Cremiers, Brie
and Parmigiano Reggiano. Fig and walnut rye baguette and a rocket and fennel
salad. Oh and a bottle of Cotes du Rhone.

Rating: Delice Cremiers cheese a standout, a light textured
cheese like whipped butter, slightly fruity but with a surprisingly clean acid
finish. Which meant we could eat it all!

Saturday

Chefs: Rob (main) me (dessert)

Rump steak with Nicola potato chips and spinach.

Cherry and almond cake

Rating: Rob loves to use his Weber BBQ. Steak and chips is always going to be a
winner in this household. We just have to remember to save a tiny morsel for
each dog, otherwise they sulk for the rest of the evening. My cake was a new
recipe for me, using some gorgeous dark coloured glace cherries. I was a little
worried I’d cooked it too long, but with a dollop of cream and a spoonful of
cherry conserve it was a pretty good pudding (if I do say so myself).

Sunday

Chefs: Rob and me (terrible I know on Father’s Day- but he
loves to use the Weber)

Rating: Our favourite summer food was pulled out of the
repertoire a little early; the weather was beautiful at the Hut yesterday.
Nothing I like better than putting our food together at the table and then eating
it whilst the juices dribble down our chins. It’s not pretty but delicious. The
pears has been cooked for about 4 hours and were soft and spiced with the
vanilla and the red wine. Mmmm is all I can manage right now.

About Me

A small hut,
a large garden,
a couple of friendly dogs,
a quiet life.
I live in our little hut, in rural Tasmania, and until recently it was just the four of us. My husband Rob, and our two German Shepherds, Nigella and Claudia.
New additions to our family are identical twins Maggie and Elisabeth.
As a new Mama the content of my blog has evolved slightly, but you will find: babies, good food, motherhood, gardens, flowers, baking, recipes, and of course our dogs.